Cool Nights No Longer Come: Family Carers Bear the Brunt” The Inadequate Housing Heat Survey 2026

Climate Blog

2026-08-16

Cool Nights No Longer Come: Family Carers Bear the Brunt” The Inadequate Housing Heat Survey 2026

CarbonCare InnoLab and the Concerning Subdivided Units Alliance release survey findings: extreme heat threatens residents of inadequate housing

As extreme heat becomes increasingly frequent in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory recently recorded a record-breaking 36.9°C. Grassroots residents living in inadequate housing are facing a severe survival crisis. CarbonCare InnoLab, together with the Concerning Subdivided Units Alliance, today released The Inadequate Housing Heat Survey 2026, titled “Cool Nights No Longer Come: Family Carers Bear the Brunt.” The survey found that the average daytime indoor temperature in inadequate housing reached 29.93°C, while the average nighttime temperature remained at 29.42°C, exceeding the Hong Kong Observatory’s hot night threshold, under which the temperature does not fall below 28°C throughout the night. The findings reveal a serious phenomenon of “Heat Injustice” faced by residents of inadequate housing, with family carers who stay at home for long periods bearing the heaviest physical, psychological, and financial burden.

The survey was conducted from 22 June to 12 July 2026. Through 21 days of indoor temperature and humidity monitoring, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews, it tracked a total of 86 households across nine districts in Hong Kong, including 78 households living in inadequate housing.

Heat fails to dissipate at night; grassroots households endure the “most expensive electricity bills”

The data show that the extreme heat in inadequate housing is not merely a subjective feeling, but a persistent and potentially deadly risk. The average daytime temperature of the surveyed units reached 29.93°C, while the average nighttime temperature remained as high as 29.42°C, indicating that indoor heat does not dissipate after nightfall.

Mr Kwok Hiu Chung, Senior Programme Manager of CarbonCare InnoLab, said: “The survey clearly reflects the harsh reality of ‘heat injustice’. Grassroots communities, who contribute the least carbon emissions, are forced to bear the most extreme heat stress in the poorest housing conditions. Indoor high temperatures are no longer merely a housing problem, but a shared crisis of climate adaptation, public health, and social protection. The Government’s climate action plan must place the ‘health adaptation’ needs of grassroots communities at its core.”

Family carers trapped in a struggle: cooking feels like working in a “steamer”

Family carers accounted for 48% of the interviewed residents living in inadequate housing. The survey found that they have become the biggest victims under extreme heat. Their “workplace” is their own home: cramped, stuffy, and difficult to cool down. One interviewed carer described daily life as working in a “steamer”, with household duties and caregiving pressure creating a double burden that is further intensified by extreme weather. The survey data also show:

89% of carers considered air-conditioning electricity bills to be a heavy burden.
83% of carers often or always felt tired, and 80% had experienced at least one type of heat-related physical discomfort.
69% of carers said the heat at home affected their emotions.

A family carer who attended the press conference, Ah Kam (pseudonym), lives with her family of three in a subdivided unit of only 80 square feet in a tenement building. The summer heat has significantly affected her and her family’s health and daily life. She said the heat causes mood swings in her child: “The heat makes her child irritable and unable to sleep. If the child cannot sleep, the adults cannot sleep either, so we have no choice but to turn on the air conditioner.” Other difficulties she faces include:

Even after being exhausted from caring for family members during the day, she is unable to sleep at night because of the heat.
She feels the electricity bill is an “extremely heavy” burden, but for the sake of her family’s health, she has no choice but to sleep with the air conditioner on.
The daytime heat at home is unbearable, so she can only seek relief in a community living room; however, once it closes, she eventually has to return home.
The heat has caused various health problems for her and her family: her child once developed skin problems due to excessive heat, and she herself has experienced dizziness and difficulty breathing at home because of the heat.

Another subdivided-flat elderly resident who attended the press conference, Mr Yung (pseudonym), lives with his wife in a platform subdivided unit of only 80 square feet. Both are retired and rely on the Old Age Living Allowance for daily expenses. To avoid discomfort caused by excessive heat, he needs to use air conditioning, which raises his monthly electricity bill in summer to as much as HK$1,000. He sighed: “Two elderly people simply cannot manage.” Other circumstances include:

The living environment is poor in hygiene. Although the unit has a window, rats enter when it is opened, so ventilation is not possible.
The heat makes him sweat all over even while at home. He has experienced dizziness and difficulty breathing at home because of the heat; his wife is also in poor health and often needs to see a doctor.
During the day, he can only stay in air-conditioned public spaces such as shopping malls or community centres.

The survey data also show that residents of inadequate housing, while facing high energy expenses, continue to bear disproportionate health risks from extreme heat, becoming trapped in a climate injustice dilemma of “high financial burden and low health protection”:

70% of respondents reported that their sleep quality was negatively affected, and 74% had experienced heat-related physical discomfort.
The average summer electricity cost per square foot for surveyed residents of inadequate housing was as high as HK$3.9, twice the HK$1.9 recorded among surveyed public housing residents.

Five policy recommendations: improving “Basic Housing Unit” standards and community support

This is the third consecutive year that CarbonCare InnoLab has conducted this survey. The figures from all three years show that apparent temperatures reached dangerous levels, further confirming that grassroots communities face severe and worsening challenges caused by extreme heat and extreme weather.

Ms Shek, representative of the Subdivided Flats Support Network, said: “As extreme heat becomes increasingly intense, many grassroots residents are often forced to make difficult choices between financial burden and physical health. We hope the Government will adopt measures based on the principles of secure living, effective cooling, affordable energy, and priority support for high-risk households, so as to protect residents from the suffering caused by extreme heat.”

The framework of the following recommendations is as follows:

Incorporate health adaptation into Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050: comprehensively assess the physical and mental health impacts of extreme heat on residents, and formulate cross-departmental support and response measures targeting high-risk groups.
Establish indoor heat monitoring and extreme heat response mechanisms: conduct long-term heat monitoring in high-risk housing, develop indoor heat safety standards, and establish heat warning and medical referral mechanisms.
Improve “Basic Housing Unit” standards and accelerate the supply of transitional housing: make insulation, shading, ventilation, and essential cooling facilities mandatory minimum standards for “Basic Housing Units”; closely monitor electricity fee sharing; and provide regular summer energy subsidies. At the same time, the Government should proactively lease private premises or purchase places from private landlords for transitional housing, to prevent residents from remaining exposed to high heat risks.
Establish a support network for high-risk households and carers: set up an active outreach system, provide temporary respite and home support for carers who stay at home for long periods to care for family members, and prioritise housing improvements.
Implement a people-centred community cooling and material support network: the Government should use survey findings to identify areas with high concentrations of inadequate housing, and work with district organisations to set up community cooling spaces that provide basic care, accessibility, and timely extended opening hours. It should also establish a cross-departmental health monitoring and referral response mechanism, and, by drawing reference from the winter distribution of cold-weather supplies, provide regular summer subsidies or donations of basic cooling appliances.

Overall, the survey findings show that indoor high temperatures should be regarded as a shared policy issue involving climate adaptation, public health, housing, and social protection. The Government needs to take action simultaneously in four areas—housing improvement, energy support, community services, and protection for high-risk households—in order to effectively reduce the health and livelihood risks faced by residents of inadequate housing.